British explorer dies from a serious infection he developed during his attempt to cross the Antarctic.

55 year-old Henry Worsley, a popular explorer and father of two, was attempting to be the first to cross the antarctic unassisted, a journey inspired by his lifelong hero, Ernest Shackleton who too did not manage to achieve his goal in 1909.

He was 71 days into his journey and had covered over 900 miles when he was forced to call for help while in a blizzard.

Worsley was airlifted and taken to a hospital in Punta Arenas, Chile. He was initially thought to have been suffering from malnutrition and dehydration however he was found to have been suffering from bacterial peritonitis, a serious infection of the layer of tissue that lines the abdomen.

He was due to undergo surgery but died that Sunday.

“When my hero, Ernest Shackleton, was 97 miles from the South Pole on the morning of January the 9th 1909, he said he’d shot his bolt. Well, today I have to inform you with some sadness that I too have shot my bolt” Worsley said in his last broadcast from Antarctica two days before he died.

He was just 30 miles from his destination.